Holiday Season Kick Off

If there’s one thing that most people love, it’s eating. The holidays are no different. For the people on your list that you want to give a gift but don’t exactly know what they would like, give the gift of food. Edible gifts won’t go to waste.

Loaf desserts and breads are easy to make and fun to eat. Choose a few festive breads: pumpkin, zucchini, banana nut, or sweet potato. Pound cakes of all sorts are also yummy. Use a spring form pan or bundt cake pan and you can split the cake in half, giving you two gifts instead of one. To avoid confusion, use different color cellophane wrapping to distinguish the different loaves that you have. Make homemade gift tags to tape to each one. These are perfect for gift giving at church or around the office.

Edible gifts should be packaged securely. Be sure to bake or cook them as close to the delivery date as possible to avoid spoiling. If there are special instructions for storage, be sure to include a card with the storage directions printed on it.

New neighbors or new moms would especially appreciate edible gifts. For these folks you can purchase meals from a company that makes dinners. Preparation kitchens that allow you to purchase meals that they have made or make your own and take them home, are popping up everywhere. They take the guesswork and time out of meal preparation and their ingredients are usually all natural and healthy for the family. Choose the meals yourself or purchase a set number of entrees and let the gift receiver go into the kitchen and choose the ones that they would prefer.

Mail order edible gifts are popular from companies like Fiji’s and Fruit-of-the-Month Club. These companies are experienced in sending foods so they are guaranteed fresh. Send a basket of fresh seasonal fruit to someone special. They’ll receive their first gift around the holidays and each month afterwards for as long as you choose. Fiji’s offers a variety of cheeses, meats, candies, and gift packages that can be mailed directly to the recipient along with a Christmas card.

As an alternative to both of these, send someone an edible gift that they can assemble themselves. If they are pasta lovers, send them a gift of pasta, homemade sauce, a loaf of French bread, utensils, and seasonings inside a large pot or a bread basket. Be sure to include a recipe and cooking instructions for a favorite recipe.

Edible gifts are great ideas for college students, apartment dwellers, new parents, grandparents and just about anyone you can think of. Besides, who can resist a meal or dessert that they didn’t have to prepare?

Share This

One of the fun things about Christmas is seeing all those presents under the tree and trying to guess what is inside of them. The bright colorful paper that we buy each year is not the only way to wrap a gift. Gifts come in all shapes and sizes and not all of them are suitable for the traditional wrapping paper. Some things are oddly shaped and need a bit more creativity to get them wrapped. This year investigate some other ways to surprise those special people on Christmas morning.

For anyone that loves to sew, gift wrapping is a wonderful opportunity to show your stuff. For instance, think about a bottle of wine. We’ve all seen the pre-made bags to hold them, but let’s save some money and have more fun by making a cloth bag. Have you ever seen the bag that Crown Royal comes in? A drawstring bag can hide a bottle of wine, a bottle of bubble bath, or other accessory items you want give as gifts. The bag itself doesn’t have to be festive. It can be of a solid color and decorated with bows, string, beads or anything else your heart desires. Best of all, the packaging can be used as a carrying bag at other times of the year.

What’s wrong with paper bags? We all have some hanging around the house so let’s recycle them this Christmas. Carefully cover large and small boxed gifts with the brown bags. Decorate the bag wrapping with glittered Christmas shapes. Use glue to create the shapes of stars, ornaments, reindeer, and snowmen; then add glitter. This is a great way to get kids to help you with your decorating for grandparents, family and friends. Let them decorate the bag with anything they choose, making the gift even more personalized.

Make use of that gift wrap you are about to throw away. This idea won’t take effect until next holiday season, but it is a good idea. Save the areas that are not crinkled beyond recognition. Those pieces can be used to wrap stocking stuffers and small gifts like jewelry boxes next year.

If you’re like me, you save empty boxes from electronics and other things you purchase just in case you need them. Since “just in case” doesn’t seem to come, use them for odd shaped gifts that need to be packaged. A great example is a stereo box which is perfect for wrapping up several pieces of clothing. If you don’t want to wrap those odd shaped plastic packages, make it easy on yourself - put them in a box.

Take up the tradition of European countries when Christmas was newly celebrated. Leave several smaller gifts in everyone’s favorite pair of shoes. Place the shoes in front of the fireplace or at the foot of their bed. You may want to line the shoe with tissue paper since they probably aren’t new “unscented” shoes.

There is more than one way to present a gift. If you have an idea, try it to see if it works. No one ever turned down a gift because it was in a shoe box or wrapped in brown paper. Besides, it’s the thought that counts remember.

Share This

It never fails to amaze me how fast the holidays roll around each year. My favorite time to decorate is during the Christmas season. Decorating puts me in the mood to be festive and nostalgic. Whether you love to decorate or would rather pass, here are some decorating ideas for your home this holiday season.

Start with the front of your house. We sometimes forget this part because we are concentrating on the inside. When folks come to your home, the door is the first thing they see, so make a good first impression. If there is enough space on your step, decorate with two small Christmas trees. Pre-lit ones are easier to manage but you can string a 25-light strand on each in no time if you prefer to hang the lights yourself. These outdoor trees can be seen from the driveway and are very inviting.

What about that welcome mat? You probably haven’t thought about it since you bought your house, but now’s the time. Choose a large one with snowflakes, holiday flowers, or other festive accents. Try to avoid welcome mat’s that say “Merry Christmas”. You want to be able to use it throughout the winter which lasts through February.

Now we can go inside. Houses with entryways make a perfect spot for some holiday decorating. Large entryways can house a lighted Christmas tree. This tree would be for decoration purposes and entertaining. You can have the main family tree in another room, such as the living room or den.

If an extra Christmas tree is too much work, hang cloth banners on entry way walls. Let the kids create Christmas shapes out of felt and glue them to the banners. Decorating the shapes and the banner with glitter adds to the effect. Banners can even be hung on ornamental rods that can be used for other wall hangings during the year.

One place that we tend to ignore during the holidays is the bathroom. Since everyone has to use it, don’t leave this room out of the holiday decorating. Place a basket of potpourri scented with pine, holiday spice, or cinnamon in your bathrooms. Set it on the back of the toilet so the spell permeates throughout the room. When the smell fades, use a few spritz of scented linen spray to revive the scent of the potpourri.

Bathroom changes can be as simple as buying a new set of rugs and linens in red, green, gold, and silver. For plastic bath accessories, use paint for glass and draw snowflakes or winter scenes on the soap dispenser, toothbrush holder, and towel racks. The paints are inexpensive and a little goes a long way. Hang a string of lights around the mirrors. This also doubles as a great night light for kids and adult guests alike.

Don’t forget the bedrooms either. For beds, if you don’t want to purchase new bed linens, opt for holiday bed spreads or quilts. Spreads can be just as warm as comforters and are less expensive. If you’re the quilting type, you can make your very own with the pattern you’ve always wanted for much less than you can buy one. Take them out during the holidays and keep them on your bed throughout the entire winter.

These are just a few ideas you may not have considered yet. We all think about the living room and the kitchen when it comes time to decorate, but those aren’t the only rooms in the house that need holiday cheer.

Share This

Presents are a big part of the Christmas morning excitement. Many argue that they are not the most important part of the holiday season. No matter what you feel on that subject, it is the thought behind the gift that counts the most. Handmade gifts provide a chance to say what’s in your heart with each creative step.

When deciding on what to make, think of things that the person you’re giving to may use a lot of. For example, avid readers use plenty of bookmarks to mark their place in the books they read. Gardeners love to display their flowers and they can never have too many pots for planting. What about pillows? If your gift receiver loves to recline on the couch or in bed, they would love plenty of pillows.

All of these things make it easier to create a homemade gift for someone. Bookmarks for readers can be made out of felt or cardboard. Different decorations can be soldered to oversized paperclips to create metal bookmarks too. Ribbon, with a charm added also make great place markers for book.

Homemade pillows are easier than ever to create and inexpensive too. Craft and sewing stores carry pillow forms that only need to be covered with fabric and sewn together. You can embroider the cover or attach tassels if you want. Pillows can be as big or as small as you wish.

If you crochet, your presents could be blankets, bed spreads, sweaters, scarves, or hats. Depending on how creative you wish to get, you can create several very nice things to give away as gifts. Don’t let those special God-given talents go to waste during the holiday season. What you spend in time you make up for in money saved on gifts.

Handmade gifts work for the family pet as well. Make your own plush chew toy or noisemaker for the cat or dog. Pet lovers would appreciate a framed portrait of their favorite canine or feline. You could even have a portrait of the owner and their prized pooch screen-printed on a T-shirt or a sweater.

When it comes to homemade gifts you are only limited by your imagination. Stores sell kits to make bracelets, barrettes, hair bows, and other accessories that girls like. Beads in every color, shape, and size are available for costume jewelry making. Find out the person’s favorite stone or their birthstone and create a complete set of jewelry using that stone.

The mom or dad who has everything may lose their keys on a regular basis. Build a key rack and personalize it with their names. Add a slot for mail or a shelf for a small knick-knack.

Homemade gifts require a bit of thought which is what makes them so great. Amaze the people on your list this year with something they weren’t expecting, something that comes with a little thought, a bit of work, and tons of love and it’s sure to be a hit!

Share This

Each year people send out dozens of Christmas cards to friends and family. They come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. Sending Christmas cards is a relatively new tradition. In fact, it is less than two hundred years old. The tradition began in England and spread to America. Since then, millions of Christmas cards are sent and received all over the world each and every year.

One thing’s for sure; these cards don’t get less expensive each year and normally the Christmas card list grows with every year as well. So, what can you do to make your growing Christmas card list less expensive? Here are some ideas for homemade Christmas cards that will delight the receiver and your checkbook.

Make use of that clip art on your computer. Unfortunately, there are those of us (me included) who don’t have an artistic bone in our body. That doesn’t have to stop us from adding a reindeer, instead of what looks like road kill, to the front of our homemade holiday cards. There are sites on the Internet that offer pictures that are free for reprint. The combination of those sites and clip art offer plenty of ideas for Christmas card covers.

No need to spend a fortune on thick, heavy paper for your cards either. Homemade cards will work on medium cardstock paper. Simply, print the outside picture on the cardstock and pen the inside greeting yourself. Each card will be unique and you can save the designs you create to use next year too.

Dried flowers and leaves can adorn the cover of your homemade Christmas cards. Follow instructions, which can be found in books from the library or local craft store, for drying different types of flowers and herbs. Once they are complete dried, arrange them on the front of your card in the design of your choice. Using glue or spray adhesive, affix the largest pieces first and then the smaller ones. Contact paper or cellophane wrapping can be used to cover the front of the card to protect your herbal decorations from wear and tear.

Family Christmas portraits make perfect covers for homemade cards as well. Spray adhesive will probably hold the portrait to the card better. Cut your cardstock paper to fit the size of the portrait. A 5’ x 7’ picture is sufficient. For an added personal touch, let each member of the family sign their names and individual greeting on the inside of the card.

There are tons of computer software programs with tons of options for Christmas cards too. Customize the cover that you want to send and add the message of your choice. With these card programs, you can choose the font, color, and size of the card being printed. Non artist types like this option for making Christmas cards that are funny, serious, or spiritual to help personalize each card for the individual recipient.

Homemade Christmas cards can be hand-delivered since they don’t come with envelopes. This will help add to the hand made feel and purpose. For those you need to put in the mail, you can purchase envelopes in various shapes and sizes at the post office or from stationery or craft stores.

Share This